Benjamin Heath, D.C.L. (10 April 170413 September 1766) was an English classical scholar and bibliophile.

Life

He was born at

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal c ...

, the eldest of three sons of Benjamin Heath, a wealthy merchant, and Elizabeth Kelland. He devoted himself mainly to travel and

book collecting Book collecting is the collecting of books, including seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever books are of interest to a given collector. The love of books is ''bibliophilia'', and someo ...

. He became town clerk of his native city in 1752, and held the office till his death.

Works

In 1763 the ministry of Lord Bute imposed an excise tax of 4 shillings per hogshead on cider and

perry Perry, also known as pear cider, is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally the perry pear. It has been common for centuries in England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land ...

on Britain's cider-producing agricultural counties. In Devon, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire protest meetings were common, and violent attacks occurred against the ministry. In 1763 soon after the enactment of the new tax, Heath published the pamphlet ''The Case of the County of Devon with respect to the consequences of the new Excise Duty on Cyder and Perry'' advocating the repeal of the cider tax in Devonshire, and his endeavours led to success three years later. As a classical scholar Heath made his reputation by his critical and metrical notes on the Greek tragedians, which procured him an honorary DCL from

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

(31 March 1752). He also left manuscript notes on

Burmann Burmann or Bürmann is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Gottlob Burmann (1737–1805), German poet and lipogrammatist * Pieter Burmann the Younger (1714–1778), Dutch philologist * Pieter Burmann the Elder (1668–1741), Du ...

's and Martyn's editions of

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...

, on

Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars ...

Catullus Gaius Valerius Catullus (; 84 - 54 BCE), often referred to simply as Catullus (, ), was a Latin poetry, Latin poet of the late Roman Republic who wrote chiefly in the neoteric style of poetry, focusing on personal life rather than classical h ...

Tibullus Albius Tibullus ( BC19 BC) was a Latin poet and writer of elegies. His first and second books of poetry are extant; many other texts attributed to him are of questionable origins. Little is known about the life of Tibullus. There are only a f ...

, and the greater part of

Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...

. In some of these he adopts the whimsical name ''Dexiades Ericius''. His ''Revisal of Shakespear's Text'' (1765) was an answer to what he saw as the

dogma Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Islam ...

tism of

William Warburton William Warburton (24 December 16987 June 1779) was an English writer, literary critic and churchman, Bishop of Gloucester from 1759 until his death. He edited editions of the works of his friend Alexander Pope, and of William Shakespeare. Li ...

. The ''Essay towards a Demonstrative Proof of the Divine Existence, Unity and Attributes'' (1740) was intended to combat the opinions of

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his '' nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—es ...

Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revol ...

and

Hume Hume most commonly refers to: * David Hume (1711–1776), Scottish philosopher Hume may also refer to: People * Hume (surname) * Hume (given name) * James Hume Nisbet (1849–1923), Scottish-born novelist and artist In fiction * Hume, the ...

Family

In 1732, Heath married Rose Marie (1718–1808), daughter of Geneva merchant John Michelet. Rose Marie bore him seven sons and six daughters. Two of his sons were Benjamin, headmaster of

Harrow Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England ** Harrow, London, a town in London ** Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) ...

(1771–1785),Drake, Sir William R (1881)
Biographical details of Benjamin Heath D.D., eldest son of Benjamin Heath and Rose Marie Michelet
p.16
see also portrait
and George, headmaster of Eton (1796–1802).Drake, Sir William R (1881)
Biographical details of George Heath, D.D.
(p.18) His collection of rare classical works formed the nucleus of his son Benjamin's famous library (''Bibliotheca Heathiana'').

Notes

a. Benjamin Heath, D.C.L., was the eldest son in lineage of Heaths where the eldest son was typically named "Benjamin Heath", per Drake's ''Heathiana''. This can make it difficult to ascertain which Benjamin Heath is being referred to, leading to confusion and error. Drake's work assists in differentiating between the different Benjamin Heaths by use of initials after their names. So for example, the Benjamin Heath of this article is referred to on various pages as "Benjamin Heath, D.C.L." (e.g. pp. 5,9,
portrait p.21
. In contrast, his son is referred as "Benjamin Heath, D.D." (se
p.16
and
portrait of Benjamin Heath, D.D., p.17
. b. Regarding the two sons, there is a discrepancy between the entries in the ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (DNB), and the ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' states that Heath's son Benjamin was headmaster at Harrow, while George was headmaster at Eton. However, the DNB (p. 340) states that Benjamin was headmaster at Eton. The discrepancy is resolved via Drake's ''Heathiana'', which both texts use as a primary source, although the larger entry in DNB also cites other sources.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heath, Benjamin 1704 births 1766 deaths English classical scholars Scholars of ancient Greek literature Scholars of Latin literature

Life

Works

Family

Further reading

Notes

References